1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and an apparatus for information processing, computer readable media, and an authoring system. More particularly, the invention relates to an information processing apparatus that displays images while a program recorded on, for example, a recording medium, is being loaded into a main memory. The invention is also concerned with an information processing method used in the above type of apparatus, computer readable media, and an authoring system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to limitations in cost and the ease of mass production, software programs for home computers (hereinafter simply referred to as a xe2x80x9chome entertainment systemxe2x80x9d) are usually recorded on optical discs, such as compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM), and supplied. Digital versatile discs (DVDs), as well as CD-ROMs, are being used to record software programs. Further, in order to reduce distribution cost, the form in which software programs are loaded through communication terminals is also available.
Further, the following type of system is available to make it possible to display still images or simple animation images while a program is being loaded. In this system, the recording format of a recording medium is configured in such a manner that data for displaying still images or simple animation images and program data are sequentially arranged. In this system, a still image related to the program is displayed by using a program for displaying still images, or an animation image indicating a rotating disc is indicated by using a program for displaying animation images. This enables the user to recognize that the program is currently being loaded.
The above-described system, however, requires that the data for displaying still images and animation images be loaded into a main memory. This decreases the capacity of the main memory, which should be originally used for storing the program data for application programs. Thus, the program data has to be read from a recording medium and be loaded into the main memory a plurality of times, thereby increasing the loading time. This causes the user to become bored, and the entertainment value may disadvantageously be impaired.
Accordingly, in order to overcome the above drawback, it is an object of the present invention to prevent the user from getting bored while a program is being loaded, thereby preserving the entertainment value of application programs operating on a home entertainment system.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium including program data and moving picture data which are alternately recorded on a continuous region. The program data and the moving picture data are each recorded in predetermined units of recording.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus including the following elements. First dividing means divides program data into first units of recording. Second dividing means divides moving picture data into second units of recording. Recording means alternately records the first units of recording obtained by dividing the program data and the second units of recording obtained by dividing the moving picture data on a continuous region of a predetermined recording medium.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus including the following elements. Reading means sequentially reads program data and moving picture data from a continuous region of a recording medium on which the program data and the moving picture data are alternately recorded. The program data and the moving picture data are each recorded in predetermined units of recording. Loading means loads the program data read by the reading means. Storage means stores the moving picture data read by the reading means. Reproducing means sequentially reproduces the moving picture data stored in the storage means while the loading means is loading the program data. Start-up means starts the program data upon completion of loading the program data by the loading means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method including the following steps. Program data and moving picture data are sequentially read from a continuous region of a recording medium on which the program data and the moving picture data are alternately recorded. The program data and the moving picture data are each recorded in predetermined units of recording. The read program data is loaded into a predetermined memory. The read moving picture data is stored. The stored moving picture data is sequentially reproduced while the program data is being loaded. The program data is started upon completion of loading the program data into the memory.
According to a yet further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable medium on which authoring program data is recorded in such a manner that it is able to be run by a computer. The computer readable medium including the following steps. Input program data is recorded onto a recording medium in units of first data-lengths. A program-data reading operation is switched to an image-data reading operation in a case where a data length of the program data is equal to a second data-length. The image data is recorded in a case where a data length of the image data is equal to or exceeds a predetermined length.
According to a yet further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an authoring system including a computer, an image input device for inputting image data into the computer, a first input device for inputting program data into the computer, a display unit connected to the computer to display information output from the computer as an image, a second input device for providing a user""s instruction to the computer, and a computer readable medium on which authoring program data is recorded in such a manner that it is able to be run by a computer. The authoring program data includes the following steps. Input program data is recorded on a recording medium in units of first data-lengths. A program-data reading operation is switched to an image-data reading operation in a case where a data length of the program data is equal to a second data-length. The image data is recorded on the recording medium in a case where a data length of the image data is equal to or exceeds a predetermined length.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention by way of example.